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ATI Rom in Chameleon RC4


harbri
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Hi,

 

I've tried several things to get the ATI-Rom from my own 4890 Card working with Chameleon RC4, but so far without any succes. This is what I did so far:

* Startup in Windows, used GPU-Z 0.3.8 to save the bios to file. Result is the file: RV790.bin

* Still in Windows I then used Radeon BIOS editor v1.22, loaded the bin-file in this tool and saved it as type *.rom. Result is the file:2D - 240, 1050, 1.053 3D - 870, 1050, 1.313.rom

* I renamed the rom-file to ati.rom

* Started up OSX, copied the ati.rom file to desktop in OSX.

* Chameleon RC4 is installed on my hidden efi-partition so I copied the ati.rom to the root of the efi partition.

* Next I've added this option in the com.apple.boot.plist on the efi-partition:

<key>VideoROM</key

<string>/ati.rom</string>

* On booting I get the error: Failed to read bootsector from BIOS device 100h. Error=1

 

I've also added the parameters GraphicsEnabler=Yes|No and VBIOS=Yes|No alone or in combinations but I still get the same error. I've also downloaded an 4890 rom image from an internetforum but it gave me the exact same error.

 

Does anyone know what's wrong and how to solve it?

 

harbri

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Thanx for the fast responses, I really appreciate it. Sorry for my bad English but that's because English isn't my native language.

 

Put BIOS as /Extra/ati_MODEL_1002.rom (replace MODEL with your actual card model -- 9442 for 4850, 9440 for 4870, and so on). No need to put any flag on boot.plist (besides GraphicsEnabler=Yes), Chameleon picks it automatically.

 

I tried that this morning, I renamed my file to ati_9460_1002.rom and put it in the Extra directory on the hidden EFI-partition but it still doesn't work. Strange thing is though that the "built-in image" which gets loaded when only using the GraphicsEnabler switch works excellent. Maybe it's because I have the bootloader on the hidden efi-partition? Today I'll do a full reinstall from Snow Leopard on an USB-disk and try it with the boatloader on the OSX-partition.

If you have other suggestions please let me know as I'd like to get it working.

 

And the error you get are not related to the ati rom but that it cant boot your snow leopard drive...

 

Notice the Bootsector part...

 

Ok thanx for the info. I first noticed it when I started experimenting with the ati-rom so it has probably been there way before that. Any hints what I have to do to solve this?

 

As for kexts, thanks to the Gigabyte DSDT thread I've got an excellent DSDT-file for my mobo. I only need the FakeSMC.kext and the LegacyATI4800Controller.kext, the rest is all done in the DSDT-file.

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In the docs it says "custom bios for eg. custom clocks/fan speeds".

 

I didn't try the -useatirom yet. But I flashed my 4870 512MB numerous times with custom fan/clock settings and osx at least for the fans does NOT care.

 

As soon Osx is booted my 4870s fans slow down to "some" OsX-related value.

 

I had to do this because it runs very hot even in idle. Sadly there is 0 info on the net how/why OsX overides my bios settings. Currently i have a bios flashed with 500/400 (gpu/ram) set at all stages (i have no clue if powerplay states are working in osx) + fans set to min of 40%. It seems cooler now (so i guess its running 500/400 - (750/900 default) but as i said, in OsX fans spin down, and no matter what i do (benchmarks, games) it stays at that value -> card getting hotter and hotter. Seems like the driver in OsX has a built-in "Catalyst Overdrive" enabled, because in Windows as soon as i activate it, the bios settings get overridden. I too cant find any info about 2d/3d in Osx, or Powerplay states related stuff. I remember just lowering the low values in a bios i flashed, and it was as hot as before. (Maybe because 4870 Mac has only 3 states - mine 4)... you see i am confused and basically at kind of the beginning of my research :thumbsdown_anim:

 

I know that the 4870 is designed to run "hot", but not in idle all the time.

 

Kind a worried + i wonder if useatirom overrides that OsX behavior.

 

ps: i only use GraphicsEnabler=yes /+ my 4870 is according to a poster at netkas.org, fully flashable to a mac 4870.

 

pps: it just sucks so much, that there seems to be no way to read Gpu/Ram Clock or Fanspeeds or ANYTHING in OsX of your gfx.

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